Despite the fact that I always audio taped my IEP meetings I also sent a letter of understanding as well. Why? Because in the event we headed to due process
it is rare that a Judge would listen to an audio tape especially a portion of one. Besides he or she would normally request the audio tape to be transcribed by a professional and certified. Therefore, I wrote the following:

May 30, 2005

Dear Case Manager,

The purpose of this letter is to describe the key points of the annual review on May 27th, 2005. Also at this time I would like to state that I can neither agree or disagree to the I.E.P. because an I.E.P. draft and the present levels of performance have not been provided to me as of this date.

Meeting Participants:

Acting case manager and social worker

Special Education Teacher – Resource Room

General Education Teacher

Learning Consultant

Danadogooder

Meeting highlights to follow on continued page:

At the meeting start I presented my list of parental concerns to the school members of the team and provided a copy of my written concerns to the case manager. Next the Special Education Teacher and Resource room teacher shared their typed notes with present levels. When I asked if I could have a copy I was told I could not have them by the case manager and that I should take notes. She stated I could get the Present Levels of Performance after the draft was typed up by the central office.

In addition, I would like to note that three members listed on the invitation were not present. Those three people were the building principal, the Reading Specialist, and the occupational therapist.

Members of the child study team presented to me for next year’s program that my son would be in an inclusion class for Science and Social Studies, resource room for Language Arts and Math, and one on one reading with the Project Read trained reading specialist. It has been suggested that the one on one aide for my son is no longer needed because he no longer needs her assistance and only looks to his aid for reassurance. It was agreed that my son will continue to be taught keyboarding three times weekly (twice during resource and once during occupational therapy). It was agreed that books on tape will be provided by the district through the Readings for the Blind and Dyslexic. This will be used for free reading to help him increase his fluency and comprehension. At this time the team has determined he will not need his text books on tape because a lot of the work is still hands on at the 4th grade level. An extra set of books will be provided at home in instances where he may require parental help.

The occupational therapist sent his notes to the case manager stating that my son can write at 55 WPM and can button and unbutton his clothes. He also stated he has no concerns anymore in regards to his visual memory and that my son can remember up to 5 digits in the Brain Builder program. The occupational therapist stated in his notes to the case manager that this is per his test results. When I asked for a copy of these tests results it was stated that she did not have them so they have not been provided to me to this date. I requested to be provided the test results and interpretations and that I also would have the opportunity to speak with the occupational therapist. According to the occupational therapist’s notes he would like to write goals to work with my son on his cursive writing and keyboarding skills. In addition, I have requested that my son work with the occupational therapist on exercises with the use of a metronome which I would like to further discuss with the occupational therapist.

In regards, to the additional assistive technology recommended by the school team I am in agreement with the programs that they have consulted with their service provider on. They suggested that my son would have use of an Alpha Smart and that he would have access in all of his classrooms to the use of Read Aloud, Draft Builder, and Co-Writer. The team agreed this would increase his functional capabilities so that he would be able to access the fourth grade general curriculum. At a recent 4 grade informational meeting given by the school the teacher stated that, “The writing demands in 4 grade are tremendous.” In bringing this to the team’s attention I asked that these assistive technology services be provided in the home with parent training for both my husband and I. This will assist our son in doing his homework, book reports, and so forth. The school portion of the team and acting LEA were unsure of how they could provide this service in the home and said they would need to speak with the districts technical support staff. The case manager promised to get back to me in a timely manner. In addition when writing goals for completing homework assignments, the teams chosen methodology needs to be written in the goal. For further assistance in this area I would be happy to set up a phone conference with N.J. Protection and Advocacy if necessary.

There was a brief discussion on whether my son should still be using the Earobics program. At this time I believe I need more information on his progress to make an informed decision.

There was also a discussion of moving next years’s annual review to an earlier date. Perhaps the team can agree to meet in April.

Lastly, the Special Education Teacher tallied the numbers for the Extended School Year program which determined that my son was borderline on receiving this program. The team discussed my son’s extremely hard work this year and the additional efforts put forth by him in attending vision therapy weekly since January with daily vision therapy homework. It was felt that if my husband and I work with him over the summer on his Math facts and division it would be in his best interest to have a summer off as the “typical students” do. My husband and I agree that this would be in our son’s best interest and that we will work with him on this year’s summer program at home.

I look forward to your follow up phone call in regards to the outstanding issue of parent training and AT services provided in the home and a copy of the IEP Draft .

I then hand delivered the letter to the school.

In event I was floored by the district’s data since the average human being hand writes at 31 words per minute from memorized text and 22 words per minute while copying text. Here I thought my child had a disability in writing when in fact their data showed he was actually a child prodigy.

Copyrighted 2011: danadogooder and DMT

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About danadogooder

Happily married for 20 years except when he is pissing me off! '
Mommy of 3 boys, a yellow female lab named Curious, 2 kitties Trouble and Kornelia, and bird and fish! Yes, we have a Zoo! Love to cook, entertain, and travel. I give new meaning to, "You can't fight city hall" Cause I fought worse, "Yes, The Board of Ed! " I live in a houseful of ADHD, Dyslexia, Auditory Processing, Sensory Integration and Allergies!!! I love being a Mom, to have fun and am always joking around! My job titles are: Wife, Mommy, Advocate, Friend, Maid, Cook, Self Employed Business Owner among many others!